The Cougars gave themselves a reason to feel good this holiday season when they concluded a trying first half of their schedule with a stirring 4-0 defeat of Alberta on Dec. 2, giving Mount Royal two wins in four tries against the Pandas – the best any team has fared against the 2017 U SPORTS champs this season. MRU also posted an impressive 2-0 win at Saskatchewan on Nov. 24, though the Cougars have been unable to string wins together, and have endured four multi-game losing streaks to this point.

CALGARY - After half a season of action, Mount Royal Cougars sits in fifth place with a record of 6-9-0-1 for a total of 13 points. MRU had the unenviable task of facing off against conference leaders Alberta and Saskatchewan over back-to-back weekends to wrap up the first half, and while the Cougars proved competitive against the Bears and Huskies, they came away without a point from the four games as they dipped to fifth place in the standings after posting a better-than-average record (6-5-0-1) through their first dozen outings.

CALGARY – At the Academic All-Canadians breakfast on Dec. 5, presented by Enterprise, forty-one of the Mount Royal University Cougars' student-athletes in four faculties have been named U SPORTS Academic All-Canadians for the 2016-17 season.

CALGARY - The Mount Royal Cougars put together their most dominant performance of the season, as they beat the University of Alberta Pandas Saturday night at Flames Community Arenas in the final game of 2017.The Cougars came out of the gate inspired to avenge their 3-1 loss last night in Edmonton.
Each team went to the power play in the first half of the period but were unable to capitalize on the early opportunity.

EDMONTON - Completing one of the best first halves in Canada West men's hockey history, the University of Alberta Golden Bears earned their 15th win of the season before the Winter Break for the first time since 2004/2005. The Bears scored twice late in the third period to defeat the visiting Mount Royal Cougars 4-2, Saturday night at Clare Drake Arena.

CALGARY – The Cougars were unable to shut down the Thunderbirds on Kenyon Court. After night one of a two-night match up the Thunderbirds were up three sets to zero. The Cougars came in fighting on night two but were unable to defeat the Thunderbirds after taking them to five sets. The final scores of the second night matches were 25-22, 25-17, 17-25,12-25 and 15-12.

CALGARY – UBC Thunderbirds clean sweep the weekend versus the MRU Cougars. After a strong showing on Kenyon Court Dec. 1, 2017, the Thunderbirds were able to carry the momentum into the second match on Dec. 2, 2017. The Thunderbirds took the match in three sets both nights. The final scores of the second match sets were 25-22, 21-25 and 25-21.

EDMONTON - Third-year Pandas hockey forward Autumn MacDougall added to her team lead in goals with her sixth and seventh of the season, leading the Pandas to a 3-1 win over the visiting Mount Royal Cougars, Friday night at Clare Drake Arena.

CALGARY- The Mount Royal Cougars played in their final home game of the 2017 calendar year on Student Night, hosting the first half of a home-and-home against the national leaders, University of Alberta Golden Bears.The last time these two schools played, MRU had a rude awakening with a 7-1 and 5-0 humbling loss against Alberta on the opening weekend of the Canada West season. The 13-1-0 Golden Bears came into the contest as the first placed national school in U-SPORTS and fresh off a sweep in Vancouver against the Thunderbirds. MRU was looking to bounce back from a gritty weekend against the Saskatchewan Huskies, being swept by them on home ice.

CALGARY - The University of British Columbia Thunderbirds take a clean sweep on night one of a two-night matchup versus the Mount Royal Cougars. The teams met for game one of two on Kenyon Court tonight, and the Thunderbirds took the match in three sets. The final scores were 25-17, 20-25 and 25-15.

CALGARY – Ringing in December the Mount Royal Cougars men’s volleyball team took on the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds on Kenyon Court. Unfortunately, the Cougars were unable to keep up in attacks and the Thunderbirds came out victorious taking the match in three straight sets. The final score of the sets were 25-20, 25-16 and 25-20.

SASKATOON – The University of Saskatchewan Huskies completed the weekend sweep of the Mount Royal University Cougars Saturday night on Ron & Jane Centre Court at the PAC, winning in straight sets (25-17, 25-23, 25-18)
With the win, Saskatchewan’s record improves to 2-8. Mount Royal drops to 2-8.
Fourth-year Colin Fraser led the Huskies with nine kills, five digs and three assists. First-year Dylan Mortensen also recorded nine kills and added three digs.
For the Cougars, first-year Mitchell Newman recorded a match-high 11 kills. Fourth-year Tyler Schmidt chipped in with another seven kills.
In the first set, an early 7-0 Huskie run made the score 9-4. The lead would give Saskatchewan enough breathing room and went on to win, 25-17.
The second set was back and forth action, as both teams could not pull away from one another. With the score tied at 23, Fraser smashed a kill to provide a set-point opportunity for second-year CJ Gavlas, who fired off the service ace to give the Huskies the edge, 25-23.
With a 12-5 Huskie lead in the third set, an impressive 10-3 run by the Cougars tied the set at 15. But Saskatchewan recovered and took over from that point. The Huskies put together an 8-0 run to seal the sweep with a 25-18 win.
The Huskies will travel to Manitoba to take on the Bisons next weekend, while the Cougars return home for a weekend series against the UBC Thunderbirds. It will be the final weekend of men’s volleyball for the first half of the season.

CALGARY- The Mount Royal University Cougars fell 4-1 in round two versus the Saskatchewan Huskies Saturday night at the Flames Community Arenas. The Cougars couldn’t stay out of the sin-bin as the Huskies capitalized on three of 12 power plays over the weekend, going two for seven tonight. Both teams were penalized for a combined 10 minutes in the opening frame and a total of 68 for the game.

CALGARY – The second game of the weekend series between the Mount Royal University Cougars and Thompson Rivers University WolfPack tipped off Saturday night at Kenyon Court.
The WolfPack were able to bounce back with a 65-61 win after losing the first game on Friday night. Both teams struggled to convert their shots on the night as both teams struggled to put up points on the offensive end.

SASKATOON – The University of Saskatchewan Huskies defeated the Mount Royal University Cougars in a five-set thriller (25-23, 21-25, 21-25, 25-12, 15-13) Saturday night at Ron & Jane Centre Court at the PAC. With the win, Saskatchewan record improves to 4-6. Mount Royal falls to 5-4.

CALGARY – The Mount Royal University Cougars and Thompson Rivers University WolfPack completed their weekend series Saturday afternoon at Kenyon Court. Despite a big-second half comeback effort by the Cougars, the WolfPack came away with a 70-64 win. Michelle Bos had another big game, scoring 17 points and grabbing seven rebounds. Leilani Carney and Kanesha Reeves both were key to the WolfPack win as Carney finished with 12 points and nine rebounds, while Reeves used her good shooting night to score 14 points. The WolfPack hit 13 threes and shot 41% from behind the arc to spark their offense.

SASKATOON – The University of Saskatchewan Huskies earned their first win of the 2017-18 Canada West men’s volleyball season with a four-set (25-23, 21-25, 27-25, 25-18) victory Friday night on Ron & Jane Centre Court at the PAC. First-year Dylan Mortensen recorded a match-high in both kills and digs with 16 and 12. Fourth-year Colin Fraser was close behind with 13 kills and nine digs. Fourth-year Tyler Schmidt lead the Cougars with 12 kills, eight digs, two assists and a service ace. With the win, the Huskies are now 1-8, while Mount Royal drops to 2-7. After trading early points, Mount Royal built the largest lead of the opening set at 13-7. The Huskies would storm back to eventually tie it at 15. The battle continued until late in the set. The Huskies secured three straight points to take the open set 25-23. Neither the Cougars or Huskies could build a large lead in the second game. The Cougars mimicked the Huskies' first set performance, scoring the final three points for the second set win, 25-21. Saskatchewan found itself in a 20-15 hole in the third set but crawled back to tie the game at 22 after a Patrick Hunchak service ace. Second-year Aidan Saladana supplied back-to-back kills to secure the win in set three, 27-25. In the final and deciding set, the Huskies built an early 13-8 lead that would provide enough breathing room the rest of the way. Saskatchewan sealed the match win with a 25-18 victory.

CALGARY - “Tonight we play for them” was the theme of the Nov. 24 matchup between host Mount Royal Cougars and the visiting Saskatchewan Huskies. Cougars captain Jamie King stated, “It was really special for us, it’s nice to give back to the military whenever we can. It was a good game for everyone.” The Cougars played in their sixth annual MRU Remembers game inside the Flames Community Arenas in Calgary Friday night, dropping the contest 3-2. The last time these two schools clashed heads was in last years Canada West playoffs where the Huskies swept MRU on home-ice. The first period was a tightly fought affair between the streaking schools, with the Huskies snapping the Alberta Golden Bears’ win streak of 11 games, while MRU Cougars are coming off a sweep against the UBC Thunderbirds.

CALGARY, Alta – The Thompson Rivers University Wolfpack made their way to Kenyon Court on Friday night for their matchup with the Mount Royal University Cougars.
The Cougars were able to defend their home court and come away with their fifth win of the year, taking a 91-74 victory over the Wolfpack.
The Cougars were led offensively by Josh Ross who finished with 24 points, nine assists, eight rebounds and a near triple-double. The Cougars also used big games from Glen Yang and LJ Hegwood who added 18 points in the game, while Yang contributed to the win with 14 points and seven rebounds. The Cougars shot 52% from the field, moving the ball, finishing with 23 assists and finding good looks for their teammates.
Mike Rouault and Joe Davis both scored 16 points leading the Wolfpack offense. Luke Morris also had a big game for the Wolfpack, finishing with a near double-double, scoring 10 points and grabbing nine rebounds.
The two teams went back and forth to start the first quarter, as neither team could take control early. The Cougars found open looks from the three-point line but were unable to convert early in the quarter. Both teams played tight aggressive defense forcing contested shots and forcing a combined 36% shooting in the quarter. The Cougars were able to take a 15-11 lead after the first 10 minutes of play.
Nolan Willett came into the second and scored five quick points for the Wolfpack. After the teams tied the score at 20 the Cougars were able to retake the lead, led by two made three-pointers by Charn Gill. The Wolfpack were able to find open looks in their attempt to get back into the game, but couldn’t get their shots to fall. The Cougars were able to take advantage and grow their lead to eight with two minutes remaining in the first half. Once the buzzer sounded to end the first half the Cougars led 35-29.
Ross took charge for the Cougars in the first half, finishing with 10 points, five rebounds and four assists and the Wolfpack were led by Rouault’s 11 points and five rebounds.
The two teams came out of the halftime break trading baskets and looking to grab the momentum. The Cougars were able to break through and managed to grow their lead to 14 with five minutes to go in the third. Hegwood found success getting to the rim, while leading the Cougar attack with 8 Points in the quarter. The Cougars were able to handle to Wolfpack push to get back in the game and they took a 13-point lead into the final quarter of play.
The Cougars were able to come out in the fourth and take control of the game, keeping their lead in double-digits. Ross hit two threes to expand the Cougar lead and not give the Wolfpack a chance to complete their comeback. The Cougars were able to convert on 46% of their threes in the quarter, as their lead continued to grow. Once the final quarter came to an end the Cougars were able to take the first game of the series with a 17-point victory.
The series will continue, Saturday night with game two tipping off at 6 p.m. MDT at Kenyon Court. The game can be live streamed on www.canadawest.com.

CALGARY – The Mount Royal University Cougars and Thompson Rivers University Wolfpack tipped off their weekend series Friday night at Kenyon Court. The Wolfpack were able to come away with a 67-59 victory after a tightly contested game. They were led by Michelle Bos who finished with 19 points and seven rebounds. Jordon Haggerty chipped in to the Wolfpack efforts on the glass with eight rebounds and Leilani Carney contributed 11 points while making three three-pointers. The Wolfpack found their success from the three-point line and the free throw line, making seven threes and 16 free-throws.

SASKATOON – The University of Saskatchewan Huskies fell to the Mount Royal University Cougars in four sets (25-21, 24-26, 25-17, 25-12) Friday night on Ron & Jane Graham Centre Court at the PAC. Fifth-year Alex Donaghy lead the Cougars with match-highs in kills and service aces; 16 and five respectively. Donaghy also added 10 digs and four assists. Third-year Chantel Park had 13 kills and four digs while adding an assist and a service ace of her own.
For the Huskies, second-year Emily Koshinsky recorded a team-high seven kills and 10 digs, adding an assist and two services aces.

Men's basketball put on a show and won two nailbiters, Men's hockey swept the T-Birds out west, and volleyball struggled to deal with the number one nationally ranked TWU Spartans. All that and more on our weekend recap!